Winter Market stall run by some 6th class girls

Winter Market

The winter market was a great success again this year. We made in the region of 7 to 7.5k , it is not a perfect figure yet as there are some expenses to come in and some monies. But it will be in that region, a good result.  All funds raised go directly back into school activities for your children.

Toy stall

Cake stall

Excitement builds every day as the Christmas countdown goes on. All classes have prepared a lively and harmonious medley of songs for our whole school end of term assembly on Monday 17 December. Thanks to choir teacher, Karen, for the great work over the term! Junior classes are practising for various performances to be held this week and next. See last week’s Blog for times and dates.

2nd class practise recorder

Japan-Ireland Cultural Exchange

We are exploring the possibility of hosing a Presenter through the International Internship Programs (IIP) in our school.

International Internship Programs (IIP) specialises in bringing people together from across the world for unique learning experiences. We offer schools and communities the opportunity to host one of our Japan Presenters for an exciting cross-cultural experience that will promote learning, friendship and understanding. Our Presenters work voluntarily with schools where they deliver an exciting range of cultural themes and activities.

For the school, there is no cost involved in hosting since the visitor will fund their own stay, however, we do ask the school to help find homestay accommodation at a reasonable cost within the community for which the Presenter will pay.

If you are interested in being a host family, please phone the office to let us know before the end of term. Further details available at the office.

2nd class Christmas Tree collage

Board of Management Meeting – Summary Report

A meeting of DSPNS Board of Management (BOM) was held on Wednesday 5^th December 2012

Items on the agenda included the Treasurer’s Report & School Accounts, the Principal’s Report, the Maintenance report, the Voluntary Contributions report, and the Buildings report.  Specific items included:

1. The Board reviewed and ratified the Communications Policy.
2. The Board reviewed morning arrival procedures.
3. Voluntary Contributions to date amount to €14,238. A balance of €30,762 remains to achieve target.

Next meeting: 23^rd Jan 2013

Break time on the patio

Change to morning assembly

The new morning assembly procedure, which has been in operation for nearly a full term, was reviewed at the December Board of Management meeting.    The feedback from the teachers has been very positive.  The new arrangements have facilitated a calm, focused and structured start in the morning – which is the most productive time of the day – and this continues throughout the school day. The quality of schoolwork has improved as has the number of children completing their work within the required time.  Punctuality has also improved and a significant amount of teaching time has been gained – this supports one of the key areas of the Department of Education’s National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2011-2020, which is to increase the time available for teaching literacy and numeracy.

We would like to thank all parents and guardians for helping with this change.  The children are clearly benefiting from the new arrangements and, in general, have adapted to them with little or no trouble.   The BoM recognises that the morning may be the only convenient opportunity for some parents and guardians to visit their child’s classroom, but is also keen to protect the benefits the children have gained over the last term.  As a result, we have agreed to a minor change in the morning assembly procedure.  Starting January 2013, on the last Friday of each month, parents/guardians of children in 1^st – 6^th classes may accompany their children to their classroom, with the expectation that children will assemble as usual in the yard/patio and that parents/guardians will leave the classroom by 8:45AM. There is no change to Junior and Senior Infants assembly.

We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back in January, have a Happy Holiday and best wishes for 2013!

Scott Jungmann, Chairperson Board of Management

Junior Infants prepare for their play

Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs)

ECAs for the Autumn/Winter Term finish up on Saturday 17th December – watch out for Spring/Summer forms when we return after the Christmas break!
Those who would like to try horse riding can pre-register their interest with Sinead on 086 896 9182.

Dancing at the Junior Infants play

5th class make lighthouses with electrical circuits

Our core value for this month is

Peace

We will sit in stillness and reflect at least once a day.

We will work in harmony with others by sharing, taking turns and listening.

We will bring peace to others through smiling and being friendly.

It’s a big challenge to work in harmony with thirty others when everyone is different. We all like to get our own way but taking turns and listening to other people’s ideas are important skills for good relationships and team work. Encourage your child at home to respect differences within the family and among friends. Try teaching them strategies for dealing with disagreements such as agreeing rules of a game before starting to play, taking turns etc.

Working in harmony to make willow lantern

There is a great buzz about the school with Winter Market preparations keeping everyone busy. Tickets went on sale for the raffle today. Be sure to get some tickets to be in for a chance to win an iPad or art work or vouchers! Junior Infants are getting a special edition of the Newsletter today with a letter from 5th class students explaining what the winter market is about and when we need help. Thank you 5th class!

Window painting for the Winter Market

PTA

Winter Market is on this Saturday from 11am – 3pm.  We still need Bottles of wine/spirits – for tombola prizes – please leave these in the box in secretary Gillian’s office.

Please don’t forget we need cakes and tray bakes for cake stall – to be delivered to the hall on Friday 7^th December after school or the morning of Saturday 8 December before the market begins at 11am

We have some fantastic raffle prizes this year such as

iPad           Mixed media painting by Dec Irwin

 Dinner for 2 at Dún Restaurant     U2 Box Set

 Hampers and vouchers from:         Adventure Agency

Hartleys Restaurant                        Ouzos

Tickets on sale next week and at the Winter Market. Prizes every hour! Don’t miss this chance to win some fabulous art, technology, hampers, vouchers!

Books
& Toys

From Thursday 29th November there will be boxes upstairs beside the lift and also downstairs beside the lift for collecting toys and books so please place your donations in there.  Please remember that we have to pay to dump any broken/unsaleable toys, so keep this in mind when donating.

Help! Help! Help!

**We are in urgent need of people to help work on the stalls on Saturday 8^th. If you can help in anyway even just for an hour or two please call Nikki on 0872283571 or Isolde on 0870567965. **

All the money raised from the winter market goes straight back to the children’s activities in school e.g. playball, dance, creativity in the classroom, art and music workshops, subsidising school trips etc.

It is a great family day out so make sure to tell all your friends and extended family. Come along and enjoy tasty food, warming drinks, time for chatting, prizes galore!

Board of Management Meeting – Summary Report

A meeting of DSPNS Board of Management (BOM) was held on Wednesday 14^th November 2012

Items on the agenda included the Treasurer’s Report & School Accounts, the Principal’s Report, the Maintenance report, the Voluntary Contributions report, and the Buildings report.  Specific items included:

1. 542 Confirmation of Interest letters were posted this week
2. Voluntary Contributions to date amount to €11,103

Next meeting: 5^th Dec 2012

Family Charity Project

3rd class complete willow lanterns